Omar (Adam) Elmaraghi 9/24/13 Script for Second Draft Audio Essay My Scientific and Religious Literacy Narrative,

by Adam Elmaraghi Having an atheist British father and a religious Islamic mother often leads to several controversial moments, arguments and stories. However, Mom and Dad, that was the environment I was born into. Throughout my childhood, I was thrown into the proverbial deepend as religious and scientific literacy texts were thrown at me, leaving me to decide which I would lean to and which side of the family would look down upon me for doing so. Dad, you often asked me to participate in the scientific discussions the "grown-ups" would indulge in to and immerse myself into their beliefs and atheistic ideology. At the tender age of six, you threw literacy texts such as "The Big Bang for Kids" at me, and forced me to start questioning the religious stories and tales Mom would tell me about how God created the Earth. Mom, I recall coming back home from school where Grandma and Grandpa would be, everyone huddled around the living room in a circle as they would take turns reading passages from the Qur'an one by one. You would always sit me on your lap as you read your passages and all I wanted to do was join in and make sense of the scribbling in front of me. I remember trips down the English coast to dad's hometown near Brighton. In the summer of 2003, when I was only 7 years old, Mom left early to go back home after claiming Dad's family was disrespectful towards her whenever the topic of religion arose. This did nothing but make me resent my Dad's side and everything they stood by. Their stance on their atheistic beliefs was

so extreme that they would not stop barraging Mom with questions about her beliefs. Some were the very same as the ones which are forbidden to even question such as "Exactly where did Adam and Eve come from?". Although their cockiness and lack of respect to anyone who did not share their viewpoints disgusted me, I always did wonder in the back of my head as to why Mom would always run away whenever the questions got too complex to answer. I began to wonder if there even was an answer she could provide to some of their questions, and what it would say about her belief system if she couldn't. I was always unsure whether it was Dad's stubborn personality, or possibly his superior argument, but he always seemed to have the upper hand. At age 8 the amount of scientific literacy reading I would do nearly doubled, while that of religious texts halved. The transformation had begun in earnest. I remember when I was eight, while watching an episode of Jimmy Neutron about Christmas and Santa Claus, influences in the texts handed to me by Dad rose up within me, forcing me to question the very basis of what I was watching. I hurried to your room where you were both lying on your bed silently, Mom reading the Qur'an, Dad reading a scientific text, and pleaded with you to tell me the truth as to whether Santa Claus was real. The magical world you had allowed me to believe in had been shattered. I quickly prompted you as to whether the tooth fairy was real. Having felt the world of ignorance every child is born into melt away from me, I asked whether God himself was indeed real, or whether he is simply another character parents tell children about to force them away from any misdemeanors. As Dad smirked, Mom was enraged and I was given a "time-out" in the corner of my room. Throughout my childhood, with all the experiences that I endured and continue to endure over the years, I have developed into the person I am. This is not just in terms of my literacy abilities, but my personality as a whole. The influences of Dad have taught me to reject any claim or

opinion unless solid evidence can be provided to support it. My inability to relate to religious texts is one of the main results of Dad's overwhelming support of scientific literacy. As a result of my experiences, I have developed into a critical analyst who requires evidence and facts to be convinced of something. Mom, I'm sorry; but the experiences I underwent as a child have transformed me into Dad in terms of his views on literacy.